19-9-2023 (MANILA) Two environmental activists, Jonila Castro, 21, and Jhed Tamano, 22, who were allegedly abducted by the Philippine military over two weeks ago, were released on Tuesday (Sep 19). They had been actively involved with coastal communities opposing reclamation activities in Manila Bay when they went missing on Sep 2 in Bataan province, near the capital Manila.
The Philippines is known as one of the most perilous countries for land and environmental defenders, with 11 such activists killed in 2022, according to the watchdog Global Witness.
The two women regained their freedom a few hours after they participated in a government press conference, during which they veered off-script and accused the military of their abduction—an assertion that authorities had consistently denied.
Rights organizations had earlier alleged that the women were subjected to violent abduction, possibly at the hands of “state actors,” seemingly due to their activism.
“We proved, because of what happened, that what we are fighting for is correct,” declared Castro defiantly, addressing reporters and activists after their release. Tamano, standing alongside Castro, called for the spotlight to be placed on “other victims of forced disappearances.”
On Sep 15, nearly two weeks following the disappearance of the pair, the National Security Council (NSC) and the police revealed during a news conference that Castro and Tamano were being held in a safe house, as they had sought help from authorities. The authorities refuted allegations by “leftist organizations” that the women had been abducted, terming it “fake news” and an “elaborate hoax.”
“They were portrayed as environmentalists. They are not environmentalists but leftist organizers. They left the movement of their own free will,” asserted NSC spokesman Jonathan Malaya at the time.
However, on Tuesday, Castro and Tamano presented a different narrative during a news conference hosted by the government’s National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, established during the tenure of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
The task force has frequently accused government critics of having sympathies with communism, devoid of concrete evidence. This practice, commonly known as “red-tagging,” can lead to the arrest, detention, or even death of those targeted. It has persisted under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who succeeded Duterte in 2022.
Castro disclosed at the news conference held in the Plaridel Municipal Hall in Bulacan province, “The truth is we were abducted by the military via a van. We were obliged to surrender because they threatened to kill us. That’s the truth. We did not want to be in the custody of the military.”
She asserted that the statement they had signed was “not true.” Castro stated, “We had no choice during that time. We want to show today the state’s blatant fascism towards activists, who only want to fight for Manila Bay.”
Recordings of the news conference were widely shared on X, formerly known as Twitter. However, links to the videos were later removed from the Facebook pages of the Plaridel municipality and the task force.
In a statement, the task force expressed feeling “betrayed” by the allegations and accused the women of echoing “the propaganda lines of Leftist groups on their supposed abduction by security forces.” The agency affirmed its support for the military and police investigation into the incident.
Karapatan, an alliance of local rights groups, contended that the women’s statements demonstrated that official claims of their surrender to authorities were “all lies and hogwash.”
